Starring Grizzy and Sophie

Oh, gosh, I started crying as soon as I saw her picture. This Friday marks a year that my Rosie has been gone. I still miss her. I am SO glad I have my two little munchkins, but my heart still misses my Bebe. I loved that she would let me pick her up and hold her for what seemed like hours. (My little munchkins are not fans of being walked around the house, lol.) I loved how soft her fur was. She didn’t sleep on me, at least not in my bed, but she always laid by my head in the morning and let me know when it was time to get up. I loved how she was such a sweet, loving, adorable little thing with such personality. She was my perfect Bee.

That’s about all I can write right now; my heart is starting to ache. (Good thing I have Sophie and Grizzy to snuggle with!) I must say, though, I am so happy I had that rose necklace made in memory of Rosie. I’ve never done anything like that before, but I love necklaces and I love that whenever I wear it I think of her and my heart fills up remembering my love for her.

Completely unrelated, I wanted to add a little about me. I was in a speech competition this past weekend and I took second, yahoo! While I would have liked to have taken first, I think second was a blessing in disguise. I’m finally getting some energy back (thank you, sun and spring), so I’m looking forward to doing things other than practicing my speech. I think the cats are happy, too. They must have heard me practice that close to 50 times! lol

And a big THANK YOU to everyone who gave suggestions about my little chewer! I went to the hardware store and got some split corrugated tubing. Just now the little miss was having a go at it but a-ha! My laptop cord is safe! Whew. 🙂

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and prayers. I will write more in a day or two or three, but I did want to say thank you for all the support. I received the emails throughout the day and they really helped me.

Rosie did seem to let me know, even though I wasn’t really expecting that, to be honest. I had an appt for later in the day, but this morning, well, I knew it the time was at hand.

I know she was sick and not feeling well, but I don’t think she suffered. This is a small comfort.

I was very happy that we enjoyed some very sweet moments this morning. She did lap up a little bit of tuna juice, so she had a little something in her tummy.

She purred like nothing else, her motor was so loud. She headbutted me and gave me a lot of face-rubs and was very loving. She’s usually very affectionate, but with her not feeling well the past couple weeks, she was a little slower. So it was a true blessing that for a while this morning, it was like she’d never been sick. This really eased a bit of my heartache.

This is really hard to write…so that’s all for now. I just can’t even describe the emptiness and tiredness I feel. I guess I’m still in shock? But I am very thankful for your thoughts and prayers, and I am so, so happy and feel very blessed that my last moments with my baby girl were very happy and warm and peaceful. And I already miss her so very much.

First, thank you for all your lovely comments, prayers and thoughts. I truly appreciate them.

It’s taken me a long time to write this post. Sadly, my Rosie’s cancer has come back. I would like to note that she was a champ, an absolute champ, at the vet’s office. And my heart breaks how, when she was done being poked and prodded, I took her in my arms and she just collapsed, like a heavy pancake. Just flattened out. My poor baby girl.

The vet, Dr. Awesome, was wonderful as always. I can’t say enough for how kind and compassionate he and his staff are. I appreciate that they are very honest, but also deliver the less-than-good news with the utmost kindness. I think this is a gift that few people have, and anyone who goes there is lucky.

We discussed options. I’m going to start crying really hard again, so I’ll keep it brief: surgery does NOT seem like the best option at all. It would be pretty invasive – much more invasive than her last surgery – and the cancer she has is almost guaranteed to come back. Right now I’m just keeping her comfortable. Eventually, I’ll have to let her go. I’m praying she’ll go peacefully in her sleep, but…I’m certainly not going to let my girl be in pain.

I just fed her and she only ate about a quarter of what she usually eats, so that has me so upset. I’m definitely going to get a rotisserie chicken later today or tomorrow morning.

I’ve had pets my entire life but Rosie is just so special. She’s comforted me through many, many difficult times. I feel so blessed to have her, and I feel so extraordinarily blessed to have her love.

Still, my heart breaks that my poor baby girl is going through this. Every day with her has been a gift, and these days now are especially precious.

My apologies for the sporadic posting. I’m currently in grad school and the class I’m in now is just ruling my life. I think I’ve suffered at least three meltdowns thus far, and now I seem to be getting sick. I seriously blame this awful class for all my woes. 🙂

But here is something that always makes me happy: Morning Rosie! Our general routine is Rosie wakes me up to be fed around 5 a.m. I think “Oh, good, I have an hour or so left to sleep, hurrah!” I feed her and while she eats, I go back to bed. Then I wake up a little while later and see her there next to me. It’s so nice. It’s just a little quiet time in the morning for me to start to wake up and give her a few pets. She thumps her tail a couple times and her motor starts purring. She’s so good.

Yesterday Rosie really was super – she had her sutures and staples removed and she was a champ!

My little Rosie was flipped three ways to get all the stuff out: a “sitting up” position, on the left, then on the right. Dr. Awesome and his assistant, Jess, kept commenting on how calm and nice she was. At one point, during the final third of the removal, Rosie swished her tail a smidge and Jess said, “That was the most polite tail flick I’ve ever seen!”

They also commented on how fast her fur was growing back. I’m just happy her body seems to be healing so well. 🙂

It took quite a while, but there were quite a few staples. I lost count, but I think there were close to two dozen. Rosie and I came home, I gave her some “treat” food and she was out like a light. I felt a little bad for my little Bee – that must have been exhausting for her! But this morning she was back to her normal self, greeting me at 4:30 am for an early morning breakfast.

Dr. Awesome checked her lymph nodes again and said he didn’t feel anything. We’ll have to go back in a bit for X-rays, just so see how she’s doing, but as of right now, she’s tumor-free. I am so happy!

Note: The above picture is from this past weekend when Rosie and I stayed in and watched a movie (“Looper” – really good film, btw!). I’ve really been enjoying staying in more, slowing down a bit, and just enjoying simple things like knitting or reading or watching my cooking shows. If it’s anything this experience has taught me, it’s that slowing down can be a very good thing. (And nothing beats having a purring kitty on your lap while watching tv!)

Surgery was a success! The vet removed three tumors, which are going to be biopsied. (I originally found two, but it turns out one of the two was just fatty tissue. Our awesome vet found two more real tumors in the X-rays, for a grand total of three.)

And the fact that Rosie was able to have surgery means something great: The tumors haven’t metastasized! I am ecstatic. I do not know what the future holds; however, I am so thankful that my baby Bee is now tumor-free. Now she can rest, recuperate and be spoiled rotten (haha, like she wasn’t before? :p).

Thank you all for your prayers, purrs and good thoughts! We appreciate them.

I’d been wanting a cat companion for a long time, but it never seemed to work out. (For example, I saw what looked to be a great match at a local humane society, but another family “line jumped.” They ended up adopting her.) A friend forwarded me Rosie’s picture that she found on Craigslist. I immediately fell in love with her and contacted the rescue.

I was pleased that the rescue owner had me fill out a survey, then asked to do a brief phone interview. This was important to me as it shows they were really committed to their kitties – and finding them the right person match.

I brought Rosie home with me in June of 2011. One of the best decisions I ever made. She has been my tireless companion. She is so soft and such a sweetie. At least a dozen times a day I must tell her how beautiful, pretty and/or tiny she is, lol!

Rosie was first Rosalie, but I started calling her “Rosie” every once in a while and then it stuck. Then one day a friend asked why I was calling her “Rosie B.” I didn’t realize I was calling her Rosie B, so I said, “Well, it stands for Beatrice!'” So Rosie’s full name is Rosalita Beatrice. Sometime I call her the Bee, sometimes she is Bebe. But she is always my sweet Rosie-girl.

You may be able to see from the picture that she has a bit of smile and a cataract. There’s some speculation that she was hit by a car. My vet told me that she sustained a pretty significant blow to the left side of her head. 😦 It breaks my heart, but she has never let that get her down! She can run and jump and play with the best of them. She is feisty and fun and sweet as can be. Pet her for a second and her motor starts purring. (I like to call it “the furnace.”) She is not a ‘fraidy cat by any means, and she definitely has her favorite persons.

Rosie’s favorite toys are: the feathers on a stick, the mouse stuffed with catnip, and the string on a stick. I’ll likely do individual posts about those in the future. 🙂

Rosie was pregnant when she came to the rescue. She gave birth, got her jaw fixed up, and recuperated. Then I adopted her, hurrah!

Heartbreaking news

I mention that about her being pregnant because I’m told that is likely a factor in her (and now I’m crying) having mammary tumors. I recently discovered one under her right armpit, and then one on her belly. As soon as I found the one I made an appointment with a vet. Two vets recommended surgery. She’s going in for surgery on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the second-opinion vet (our new vet, who we are very are happy to be with!). I am praying that they are benign (although I’m told I should prepare myself, as most are malignant). I’m also praying that they haven’t metastasized. But I am very happy with our new vet, and I know my Rosie Bee is in good hands.

Still enjoying happy times!
Rosie is the sweetest kitty I have ever had. She also has the honor of being the first girl cat I’ve had, yahoo. She has been such a blessing in my life. Prayers and purrs that her surgery goes well, and that my sweet girl doesn’t not suffer any (I’ve been through one surgery and it was a drag!). Right now she’s sitting on the ottoman, having herself a nice bath. She is quite the girly kitty, and never likes to have a hair out of place!

We have had lots of good times, me and Rosie B, and we still are! so I hope to have many more positive future entries chronicling this. 🙂